Journalists strike in pay row

Friday 4 January 2008 00:04 BST

Journalists at a national newspaper group are staging the first of three 24-hour strikes in a row over pay.

The National Union of Journalists said up to 250 of its members at Express Newspapers, publishers of the Daily and Sunday Express and Daily and Sunday Star, would walk out from 6am on the next three Fridays in protest at a 3% pay offer.

NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: "Our members are standing firm in their resolve to fight for a fair deal. This strike is about low pay and broken promises. It's incredible that management at Express Newspapers are forcing their journalists into taking this action."

He continued: "These papers, now more than ever, need properly resourced journalism, yet all the company has to offer is cutbacks and miserly pay."

The union said it would be the first full-day strike of journalists at a major national newspaper since 1990.